Rochester Public Schools

Rochester Public Schools isÂ comprised of 17 elementaryÂ schools, four middle schools,Â three high schools and oneÂ alternative learning center.Â Rochester Public SchoolsÂ strives to inspire, challengeÂ and empower all studentsÂ with the knowledge and skillsÂ required to reach their fullÂ potential, to contribute toÂ future generations and toÂ become involved membersÂ of a global community.

School District Reins in Costs with Managed Print

Since 2010, Rochester Public Schools has maintained a managed printÂ environment throughout the district. It had a surplus of devices and was seekingÂ a knowledgeable recommendation for its fleet. When the district decided to sendÂ out a Request for Proposal (RFP) in 2015, it had 400 devices in its printing fleet.Â The goal was to make a 5-10 percent reduction. The selected vendor needed toÂ be able to grow with the district, as it was building a new school, and provideÂ exceptional service and support.

â€śWe wanted a vendor who could analyze the data and make a recommendationÂ as to where the devices could be consolidated and eliminated,â€ť said JohnÂ Carlson, Executive Director of Finance.

During the districtâ€™s extensive RFP process, it considered three major vendors inÂ Minnesota. Rochester Public Schools had a grading rubric of pricing weighted at 50Â percent, and the overall plan of implementation, service and support at 50 percent.

â€śWe weighted the estimated annual spend, recommendation and postÂ implementation services, and put all three vendors in line. We perceived thatÂ Marco would deliver the best service to us and provide the best overall value,â€ťÂ Carlson explained.

â€śThere is a lot of competency in the staff at Marco. They had a strongÂ representation of their performance, which included the implementation andÂ service on the back-end,â€ť Carlson added.

Marco thoroughly analyzed all of the data the district had available for the pastÂ five years and was able to recommend about a 13 percent reduction in devices.

â€śMarco basically doubled what we thought we could reduce, so we were veryÂ satisfied with that,â€ť said Carlson.

The implementation was a very large project. Marco needed to cover 348 devicesÂ across 36 different buildings. It was pertinent to the district that it would be aÂ seamless implementation and that day-to-day operations wouldnâ€™t be interrupted.

â€śThe overall initial implementation was very well executed and thoughtful. ThereÂ was a schedule, and that schedule was met. Along the way Marco did training withÂ every department in every building, so that was very well received,â€ť said Carlson.

Prior to Marcoâ€™s solution, Rochester Public Schools had been using PaperCut,Â a software that tracks print usage, but it had trouble understanding the fullÂ capabilities of the tool. Marco was able to help the district utilize the software inÂ a way it hadnâ€™t before.

â€śMarco is much more competent in supporting PaperCut. There is a notificationÂ tool that pops up on each userâ€™s screen, informing them of how much theyâ€™veÂ used and how much is left. It gives us the vision we were looking for to track userÂ by user, and how much they were spending by month. Having that informationÂ makes a big difference,â€ť added Carlson.